


Festive

by Fallingtowardsoblivion



Category: Merlin (BBC), Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Library, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BBC Merlin Secret Santa, Blind set-up, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Competition, Cute, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Funny, Holidays, Humor, M/M, Mentions of scifi and fantasy bc im a hoe, Modern without Magic, Rivalry, Seasonal, Secret Santa Exchange, Sexual Tension, Such cliche much cliche I'm so sorry this is cute though, festive, voila
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-07 09:40:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5452052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fallingtowardsoblivion/pseuds/Fallingtowardsoblivion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fes·tive:<br/>adjective<br/>- of or relating to a festival.<br/>- cheerful and jovially celebratory.</p><p>Or, the story of 'The Great Winter of Sexual Tension (And Moderate Hysteria)'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Festive

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mcmirrr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcmirrr/gifts).



> Well that was a boatload of fun to write! I hope you have as much reading this as I did writing it!
> 
> For the glorious Mirjam! I hope this is something along the lines of what you wanted, and have a lovely holiday season!
> 
> -Amelia

Really, it all started with a snowflake.

Well, it wasn’t really a _singular_ snowflake, but rather a series of sloppy, if not endearing, pieces of paper folded and cut in a manner that implied that they were supposed to _be_ snowflakes. And really it wasn’t the fact that they _existed_ that started the whole shebang that the work staff at Avalon University library and Lakeside Coffeehouse (located within Avalon’s Library) would later affectionately refer to as ‘The Great Winter of Sexual Tension (And Moderate Hysteria)’. Rather, it was that said affectionately derpy snowflakes were hung not only all around AU’s Library, courteously of Gaius’ most enthusiastic employee (one Merlin Emrys), but rather also placed _inside_ the walls of Lakeside Coffeehouse.

And really, Arthur Pendragon, proud manager of Lakeside Coffeehouse and manager of the month (four months in a row), just couldn’t stand the sight of them.

“But it’s festive.” Gwen said – taking one for the team by dragging Arthur from his thirty-second minute straight of staring (with obvious distaste) at the offensive decorations.

“Festive.” Arthur repeated, the word distorting his mouth into a weird type of frown. “ _Festive_.”

“…Yeah, festive.” Gwen said, slightly concerned at the way that Arthur hadn’t particularly _blinked_ in the last 32 – no, make it 33 – minutes. Hadn’t even _blinked_.

“Do you think he finally snapped?” Gwaine muttered to Leon, who carefully kept a straight face, and didn’t dare respond. After all, Arthur hadn’t had such a crippling bout of anal-retentiveness since last Halloween, when three drunk cosplayers had come bursting into the coffee shop at _seven in the morning_ and promptly vomited all over the display case.

Leon gave a slight shiver at that. Arthur’s reaction had been… _well_ … Let’s just say he gave a six-hour-marathon of Bridezilla a run for its money.

And really, the smell of vodka and punch hadn’t left the case for _months_.

Arthur, in the meantime, had wholly ignored Gwaine’s comment, and instead turned an endearing, if not wholly terrifying shade of _red_. Rather festive, though, if you thought about it. He should’ve worn a green sweater to match, then he’d really be getting in the holiday spirit –

“Festive,” Arthur growled, and even Gwen decided to back up a bit, just in case the blast radius was anything like last time. “How in the bloody hell is that _festive_?! This place looks like a – a – children’s care, a _bloody elementary school_ with all the cut up pieces of paper glued to the bloody wall! How can anyone take this establishment seriously if our only holiday decorations are shoddy scraps of _paper_?!”

Ah yes, and there it was. _Baristazilla_ , as Gwaine had so affectionately dubbed the manager’s fouler moods.

And then Arthur was up, and moving, and barking orders to have the walls and windows cleared of this downright _disgrace_ pronto.

And that is how it began.

 

***

 

Merlin was, in all forms of the name, an addict.

Coffee was his drug of choice – either served black or so sweet that it could be mistaken for a gourmet pastry. No matter the time of day, the young student could most likely be found with a cup or three of the stuff in his general premise – especially at the beginning of his night shift at Avalon Library.

And it just so happened to be the beginning of just one such night shift, while standing in line for his usual 8 pm cuppa, that Merlin noticed a certain _something_ missing.

More specifically, certain _decorations_. Certain decorations _missing_ that he was almost _certain_ were supposed to _not_ be missing, since he, after all, had put them up not even 24 hours previous –

“Evening, Merlin!” Gwen said as the young man walked up, her classic smile as warm and welcoming as ever.

“Good evening, Gwen,” Merlin said, vigorously rubbing his hands together as he tried to get some semblance of feeling back to the tips of his fingers, decorations all but forgotten for the moment. It was freezing outside, and Merlin was busy mourning the loss of a pair of gloves to a certain accident involving a tractor, blender, two gallons of milk and his roomie Will’s three hedgehogs.

(The hedgehogs had survived, little disaster-prone bastards. The gloves though… Let’s just say Will owed the librarian a new pair. Or _five_.)

“The usual?” Gwen said, already grabbing a cup to write the highly sugarized order onto.

“Yes, please!” The student replied, beaming at Gwen in a manner that should’ve probably made his face hurt. (But of course, Merlin couldn’t really _feel_ his face, so that wasn’t much a problem, now was it?)

Then he glanced around again, and remembered his previous observation of a lack of decorations, and promptly inquired to the extent of such.

“Oh well –“ Gwen started, but then there was one Arthur Pendragon, manager of the month, cutting her off.

“In the trash.” He said simply from where he had magically appeared behind the counter, bag of coffee beans in hand.

And then that derpy grin was frozen dangerously on Merlin’s face as he tilted his head innocently, in a very _dangerous_ manner, to the side. After all, it had taken him _four hours_ to make and put all those up. _Four hours._ “Oh really? And why are they in there?”

Arthur snorted at this, as oblivious to the _obvious_ danger to his persons as ever. “Did you _see_ them? Some silly bloke just came along and hung a bunch of scraps of paper on the walls!” The manager gave a bark of a laugh at this, “Can’t take a place seriously if all they can afford is some playschool snowflakes on the walls.

“That type of shite is to be expected from the _Library_ staff,” Arthur continued with an air of downright snobbery, not even noticing how Merlin’s hand was currently, in fact, _obliterating_ his receipt. “But in here, we decorate with only the best.”

“Only the best, huh?” Merlin parroted. And Gwen was looking at the young man quite oddly, because she wasn’t sure if he had blinked since Arthur’d started talking.

Carefully, the barista decided it was safest to move to _the other side of the room_ now.

Sadly, the coffee shop was rather tiny, and she could still hear the conversation loud and clear, as Arthur explained how he’d sent Gwaine (which everyone knew was a stupid decision, because, well, _Gwaine_ ) with the company credit card ( _stupid_ ) to go pick up some lights and ribbons.

And evidently Merlin agreed with the stupidity of the whole plan, if the fact that he was say ‘Well that’s just _bloody_ stupid!’ was anything to go by, and oh yes – there it was – Merlin was most definitely _offended_ –

Gwen covered her ears, because really she did like her hearing intact, and Arthur never did really learn how to use his inside voice – and oh wow, this was quite the row, now wasn’t it?

 

***

 

Gwaine was whistling as he entered Avalon Library, bag of corny Christmas lights, overbearing red ribbons and personal shots of vodka (for the barista’s experimental frappuccinos) in hand. Just as he rounded the corner towards Lakeside Coffeehouse, though, he was nearly run over by a very red-in-the-face Merlin who looked like he could use one of Gwaine’s mentioned experimental frappuccinos (if Gwaine did say so _himself_ ), shouting over his shoulder:

“I’LL SHOW _YOU_ DECORATIONS!”

Oh. It involved Arthur, didn’t it?

Gwaine sighed, shaking his head as he entered the coffeehouse and proceeded to unpack his most recent purchases.

If only he had the type of chemistry that Merlin and Arthur.

But alas, the barista could only dream. Pity.

 

***

 

And so _It_ began.

 _It_ started out pretty simply. Arthur put up Gwaine’s garish lights and ribbons, while Merlin went into the back room and dug out some wreaths and miniature Christmas trees, placing them in the Library sitting areas.

But then Arthur left at the end of his shift and saw the Library’s newest décor, and Merlin went to get his fifth cup of coffee that evening, and well –

Come next shift, Merlin was lugging a duffle bag full of lights, fake snow and snowman window stickers. Arthur, in the meantime, had obtained a small, surprisingly _metallic_ Christmas tree (complete with ornaments and strands of light – because gods knew Lakeside needed more of _those_ ).

“Wow, _that’s_ obnoxious.” Gwaine said, walking up with a suspicious frappuccino in hand. Arthur glared at his barista, plugging the last strand of lights into the wall socket. It flickered to life with a rather _dangerous_ hiss.

“Shut up, Gwaine.” Arthur growled, standing up and brushing off the knees of his perfectly pleated pants. (He hadn’t actually gotten anything on them, because Arthur was incapable of anything save perfection and cleanliness – but he still did the act for the sake of something to do.) “It’s _festive_.”

Gwaine groaned at this, taking a large swig from his venti ‘frappuccino’. “Gods, Arthur. Not _that_ word again!”

Arthur frowned at this, choosing to ignore the redness rising on Gwaine’s cheeks. “What’s wrong with what word? Festive?”

“Ugh, yes,” Gwaine said, gripping at his heart as though it wasn’t particularly strong at the moment. Total bullshit, of course. “Merlin’s only mentioned it a _dozen_ times in the last hour!”

“Eh? Wait what? What has Merlin been saying?” Arthur said, jumping on Gwaine’s bait in a rather _ferocious_ and _intimidating_ manner. “Wait a minute, you’ve been on the clock since three, when did you have an hour to –“

“Yeah, _festive_ ,” Gwaine interrupted, drawing Arthur back to the bait. If the way Arthur now had a very dangerous glint in his eye was anything to go by, then it worked. “He’s talking about ordering little Christmas candles and snowflake bookmarks. Going on about how bloody festive they are. And gods, the _sweaters_ he’s been wearing lately – if you don’t wear contacts already, then you sure as hell will once you’ve gotten a glimpse of one of _those_ atrocities. Gods know they’ll make _me_ go blind soon –“

And Gwaine continued talking, not noticing how Arthur had pulled up his phone and was already searching for ugly Christmas sweaters, because why didn’t _he_ think of that before?

 

***

 

Mind you, this all happened near the end of November. By the first week of December, the full exterior of Avalon Library was clad in brilliant lights and disgustingly red and green wreaths. Meanwhile, it was a bit hard to find any space at the tables in Lakeside Coffeehouse, considering how each one had their own personal snow globe, miniature tree _and_ set of Santa napkins.

And never mind the damned _tinsel_.

Gwen, tripping a bit over the pile of fake presents in front of the employee entrance, finally decided it was about time she took another one for the team. 

Gwaine and Leon _owed_ her.

“Erm, Arthur, do you really think all this is… _necessary_?” She said as she brushed some pine leaves off her apron, walking up to where Arthur was surveying his domain with a rather disgustingly satisfied glint in his eye.

“Of course it is, Guinevere,” Arthur said, straightening his back a bit. “It’s festive… You yourself said we needed festivity in here.”

And Gwen was torn between an urge to face-palm, or maybe give Arthur a good knock to the head in order to get him back to his senses.

She finally decided that neither was really that productive, and instead mumbled some incoherent affirmation, and quickly retreated to the back of the house.

If this didn’t stop soon, then they were going to need some serious intervention.

 

***

 

Lance rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying his damnedest to not sneeze as Merlin set out yet _another_ tree-shaped bowl of red and green potpourri. 

While the desk assistant had been on a two week break, Percy had told him that Merlin had gone a bit… overboard.

Well, he wasn’t lying.

“Merlin…” Lance said carefully, returning to the pile of new books he had been busy scanning into circulation before he had been… _assaulted_ by potpourri.

“Hmm?” Merlin replied absentmindedly, busy shopping for – oh gods _, Santa yard ornaments_ – online.

“Do you uh,” Lance cleared his throat, realizing he was dealing with a rather… _delicate_ topic. After all, no matter how much Merlin claimed Arthur was a prat, there was undoubtedly something _between_ the two of them.

…They just so happened to be too busy having a pissing contest (Gwaine’s words, not his) to see it.

“Do I what?” Merlin asked, absentminded and oblivious to Lance’s current inner turmoil.

“Do you think that maybe you're going a bit… overboard? With all this Christmas stuff?” Lance finally got out, biting his lip as he watched for the younger man’s reaction. There wasn’t much of anything, considering that librarian was busy _shopping_.

For _Santas_.

God help him, Lance silently lamented. God _help_ him.

“And why in the world would you say that?” Merlin said, frowning even as he still scrolled through the browser page.

“Well, I mean for one thing, you're looking for lawn ornaments for the _library_.”

Merlin did look at Lance at this, a faint flutter of offense and – oh god – _betrayal_ crossing his face. A bloody kicked puppy, that’s what he was. “But Gaius agrees that AU Library could use some more decorations.” He said innocently.

“Merlin, I don’t think Gaius had blow-up Santas in mind when he said that.” Lance retorted in a matter-of-fact, if not careful, manner – avoiding eye contact even as he said it.

At this the librarian got a downright _devilish_ look on his face, “That may be, but he already gave me the ‘brary credit card, soooo…” Merlin finished that sentence with a signature grin.

 _Dear lord._ Unlike Gwen, Lance actually couldn’t keep himself from face-palming. After all, really – how could Gaius be so _stupid_?

That was it. This called for Extensive Measures.

 

***

 

“Ouch, shit – my toe!”

“Oops–“

“Who’s face am I touching- ?”

“Ouch, dammit! That’s my bloody eye –“

“Oh sorry Gwaine –“

“Ow -!”

“Who thought this would be a good place to meet!”

“Who do you bloody well _think_?”

“ _Gwaine_! Why isn't there a bloody light in here?!”

A smacking sound resounded through the small, cramped room, followed by an ‘ouch! Shit! I only _suggested_ it, mate!” Then a muttered, ‘didn’t think you’d actually listen to me…’

“Alright, alright, alright! Just give me a moment –“

There was a click, and then light flooded through the compact space.

Gwen gave a sigh of relief, moving ever so slightly to the left in order to lean more on Lance and less into Gwaine’s _face_.

“Tell me again why we are in the ladies’ loo again?” Perce finally said, looking down in order to remove his foot from where it was partially squashing both Leon’s and Gwaine’s in equal parts.

Leon opened his mouth to speak, a signature frown on his face even as it was partially smashed into the hand dryer. Gwaine quickly interrupted the older man, though, saying, “Because Merlin and Arthur will never bother coming in here!”

“You know we have a perfectly good flat, right?” Percy finally said, glaring at the man that was currently smashed into his strong frame. He wondered faintly if it was actually that cramped or if Gwaine was just being a greedy hoe again.

Knowing him, probably both.

The desk assistant gave an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes, tuning out Gwaine half-assed excuse for why the ladies’ loo was better.

“Alright, well we are all here now, aren’t we?” Lance finally interrupted, trying to give a calming wave of the hand but instead managing to politely smack Leon upside the head.

The barista rubbed the back of his skull, miffed.

“Now how about we get down to business,” Lance continued.

“Yeah, the reason I gathered you all here –“ Gwaine interrupted.

“Shut up Gwaine, let the man speak.” Perce said, glaring at the shorter man. Gwaine gave a sheepish grin.

Lance blinked at the sudden sexual tension. “Um. Yeah. We’re all gathered here today because of _Merlin_ and _Arthur_.” A chorus of groans resounded throughout the room, and if Gaius just so happened to be walking past the bathrooms at the moment and just so happened to hear said chorus of groans, well he wasn’t getting paid enough to look into it.

“Dear gods, yeah. Those two are becoming absurd,” Leon said, shaking his head.

“The sexual tension between them is palpable,” Gwaine unnecessarily chimed in, ignoring how someone (sounding suspiciously like _Leon_ ) muttered something along the lines of ‘ _you're one to talk’_.

“But what should we do about it all?” Perce said, crossing his arms at the expense of the left side of Gwaine’s face.

“They just need to bugger it out –“ Gwaine said, rubbing his jaw with a small frown on his face.

“Gwaine!” Gwen interrupted, scandalized.

“Er, I have to agree with Gwaine on this one…” Leon said sheepishly.

And well, yeah, for once the problematic barista did have a point. The women’s room fell silent at the realization.

Finally, Gwen spoke up. “But even if that is the case, how in the world will we ever get them to stop fighting long enough to realize they like each other?”

“Yeah, that is true…” Lance said, deep in thought. “I mean, maybe they just need to get to know each other a bit more…”

“Pff, good luck with that one,” Percy said, shaking his head. “The only way for those two to get anywhere near acquainted would be anonymously.”

And then Gwaine got that look on his face, a giant, painful grin growing even as his brain still chugged along. “We can do that!” He exclaimed, making Gwen jump a bit.

“No, seriously – we can do that!” Gwaine said, getting excited.

“Please Gwaine, share with the rest of the class.” Leon said, sarcastically.

Gwaine huffed, but by no means deflated. “Secret Santa.” He said simply.

Lance gave him an incredulous look. “Secret Santa?”

“Secret Santa,” Gwaine repeated, smiling with satisfaction. “We set up a Secret Santa, give both of them a description of the likes and interests of the other, don’t tell them they have each other, voila! Before you know it, they're banging!”

Percival frowned, as did Lance and Gwen.

“I don’t think Secret Santa usually leads to sex, Gwaine.” Gwen finally said, skeptically.

“No, as much as I loathe to say it, but I think Gwaine might be on to something,” Leon said, interrupting Gwaine’s huffed ‘Well that’s what you think…’ “After all, at least they’ll both know a bit more about each other.” The barista continued.

“See! It’ll work!” Gwaine said excitedly. “And come on, who _doesn’t_ want a Secret Santa? Tis the season!”

And well, for once, maybe Gwaine was onto something.

 

***

  
Arthur hadn’t even looked up from where he was scribbling memos in the backroom, instead saying, “I don’t even know why it’s a question. Sign me up immediately.” Complete with a curt nod as soon as the words ‘Secret’ and ‘Santa’ had even left Gwen’s mouth.

Merlin needed scarcely any encouragement either, instead giving Lance a large, lopsided grin at the mere mention of an exchange.

And so, Operation Relieve the Tension (Gwaine’s name) was officially in motion.

 

***

 

“This sounds like a cheesy dating site.” Arthur said, staring at the particular bit of paper that said ‘long walks through the library’ on it. Gwen, in the meantime, began to promptly choke and cough as the water that was supposed to go down her throat tried instead to make itself home in her lungs. Gwaine carefully looked anywhere but Arthur, sipping delicately at his ‘frappuccino’, while Leon gazed steadily at Arthur.

“I assure you, it’s just the way your particular um – recipient – worded it.” The barista gave an unconvincing cough.  After all, Leon and Lance had, through a joint effort, managed to find Merlin’s OkCupid. (As well as Arthur’s tinder – though, well, that was Gwaine, and it had actually been an accidental discovery, but…)

Arthur didn’t notice Leon’s extremely miserable acting skills, though, because he was rather drawn to the recipient’s music taste, as well as literature, and really wait a minute – science fiction? What an interesting person. But who…?

“Well, now that that’s all sorted out, how about we get back to – er – coffee-ing?” Gwen said in a rather unconvincing (well, to everyone save Arthur) manner. Trying to distract her manager from wondering too much on the topic of his Secret Santa recipient.

“Yes, of course.” Arthur said, thrust from his daze. He looked around, eyes narrowing on Gwaine, and his frappuccino, and his rather flushed complexion.

He had work to do.

 

***

 

**5 – 10 business days later**

As it was, everything was going exactly as planned.

Arthur had not-so-subtly been asking for the last week and a half questions ( _straight from the OkCupid list)_ to every worker of Lakeshore and AU Library in an attempt to find his recipient. Leon and Gwen agreed that that was a good sign. Maybe a bit neurotic, but still good.

Meanwhile, according to Lance, Merlin wouldn’t shut up about how he couldn’t wait to talk Star Trek with his own giftee.

Gwaine, in the meantime, thought it all was quite hilarious, and tended to have a good laugh to himself every now and again, nursing a frappuccino and squinting right back whenever Arthur shot him a moderately concerned glare.

Two days before Christmas, Gaius allowed Avalon U Library to be closed early – leaving time for a small work Christmas party. (Obviously put together by Morgana, even though she wasn’t even affiliated with AU, because as soon as Gaius had said ‘Holiday’ and ‘party’ and ‘planning’ – well. We don’t talk about the aftermath. So Gwen had made some calls, pulled some strings, and pulled Arthur’s sister into the whole affair.)

The whole place was rather tasteful, if Merlin and Arthur’s sheer lack of decorating skills was anything to go by. There was finger food, champagne, (spiked, thanks to Gwaine) eggnog.

Hell, the cut out cookies even had ugly Christmas sweaters on them.

To sum it up, Morgana had done splendidly. And to make everything even more fulfilling, Merlin and Arthur hadn’t yet had a giant row. Everything was going wonderfully, and everyone was quite pleased.

So of course everything just had to go to shit as soon as the gift exchange started.

 

***

 

Years later, when the pair was loose with wine and nostalgia, Merlin and Arthur would look back on the happenings of that night and laugh.

As it was, though, at the time it wasn’t very laughable.

First, it started with Merlin getting handed an immaculate red and gold gift, while Arthur was simultaneously given a shoddily wrapped, obviously Lord of the Rings related box.

Then, it just so happened that each man saw exactly what was being handed to the other at exactly the same time, much to the reddened distress of each respective party.

Then, both men just so happened to have the dawning realization that they had been set up at the exact same moment –

And, well, what happened afterwards could only be described as petty, perfectly synced, and ending with a sopping wet Gwaine.

 

***

 

“You know, your sister really is a menace when it comes to ruining her parties.” Merlin said, pushing a green-tinted lock of hair out of his eyes.

Arthur gave a small smile at that, looking up from where he was perched on the edge of the fountain in front of the library and attempting to brush all the glitter from his persons. (He was failing miserably, but it was the thought that counted, supposedly.)

“Try growing up with that.” The manager said, a tired smile on his lips.

Merlin snorted, very much not wanting to imagine such a childhood, and instead situated himself about a foot from Arthur.

A comfortable silence soon fell between the pair.

“So you like Lord of the Rings?” Merlin finally said, squinting at the rather sparkly manager next to him.

Arthur hummed in confirmation. “It was my childhood. Of course I do.” He chuckled a bit, looking down at where his hands were hanging rather worthlessly between his knees.

Then the older man looked up, cocking his head at Merlin. “And you like Star Trek?”

“Love it, you kidding me?” Merlin snorted, grinning a bit. And that grin seemed to be rather contagious, because when Arthur looked up and saw it, he couldn’t help but let his own face mirror the younger man’s.

“Well, I guess that means that you’re not a total git.”

“Oi!” Merlin said in mock offense. “You're one to speak, Mr. Knock-over-the-ice-sculpture!”

Arthur snorted. “That only broke because you shoved me into it.”

Merlin chuckled a bit at that, saying “Well I guess it was both of our faults.”

And then a moment later:

“That really was rather stupid of us, wasn’t it?”

“Mmm… which part?”

“All of it.” Merlin said, his eyes downcast.

“Yeah. I suppose it was.” Then Arthur chuckled. “And we didn’t even get to know each other properly.”

Merlin snorted. “Maybe I don’t want to get to know you, you aggressive prat.” But the insult was hollow, and held no real heat.

“That’s bullshit,” Arthur said, with a small punch to Merlin’s shoulder to reiterate his point. “Now if I wasn’t mistaken, you rather enjoy long walks in Libraries.” The older man then held out his hand, looking pointedly at the brilliantly lit building just to their left.

Merlin lifted a brow. “Are you asking me out?”

And at this, Arthur grinned. “Maybe not… I rather would like to get to know you a bit more before doing such an atrocious thing.”

And it was Merlin’s turn to grin and punch the other man, even as he reached for his hand.

And the rest was history.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Voila! Happy holidays!


End file.
